Getting children to sleep

Press, 25 May 1984, Page 12

Getting children to sleep

Sir, — What a curious attitude our society has towards sleep. (“Hush now, baby,” “The Press,” May 21). Parents whose child has very fair skin do not expose her to large amounts of sunshine to toughen her up. They provide a sun hat or sunscreen cream. Parents whose child is allergic to a particular food do not force him to eat it to train him out of the allergy. They take care to keep it out of his diet. Parents whose child is exceptionally tall do not cram her into too-small clothes to get her out of the habit of growing. Yet parents whose child wakes frequently at night are advised to ignore him, to train him out of the habit. Children are expected to conform to a pattern that suits some but not others, and the parents who try to meet their individual child’s individual needs are deemed to be making excessive sacrifices. Why? — Yours, etc., CATHERINE GLUE. May 22, 1984.

Sir, — Perish the thought that 1 might be an “adherent of babybiased groups ...” (“The Press,” May 21). It took me years of mothering, four children and countless remedies later, in vain attempt to solve the sleep problem. It was simple in the end. Finally, I was able to accept emotionally my child’s dependency and feel her need for nocturnal contact. Welcoming her and her older sister, also a night-waker and anxious, into my bed, worked. We all slept. Six months later, the five-year-old decided independently to return to her bed, and sleeps all night. The three-year-old now sleeps all night, mostly in my bed. Occasionally she chooses to sleep (all night) in her own bed. Baby-biased groups promote long term, the interests of the child towards independence. - Yours, etc., CHRISTINE D. ROWLANDS. May 21. 1984.